


A Cold Encounter

by Moriavis



Series: Take As Directed [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff not Fear, Len really likes puns, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, fluffiest kidnapping ever, sick!Barry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 13:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8581108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moriavis/pseuds/Moriavis
Summary: Barry's sick, but he can still take on Captain Cold.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, as always, to saekwha, for her amazing beta skills. Seriously, I'd be lost without her.
> 
> This was written for a Fluff, not Fear prompt: ' Barry catches a Cold, Cold catches a Barry.'

~*~

Barry protectively curled his arm over his side as he slid off the medical bed, taking a few cautious steps before he raised his wrist to his nose and wiped the snot on his sleeve.

"You're sick, Barry," Caitlin said, setting her hand on his shoulder and urging him to sit back down. "Jesse can take care of this. You know you're out of commission until your powers come back."

"I'll be careful, I promise," Jesse said. "Just one more before Dad and I go home?"

"You're set on giving me a heart attack," Harry muttered, and Barry shook his head at Jesse, fighting a sneeze.

"It's about Cold, not you," Barry said. "He's smarter than you'd think, and he'll ice you before you even know what you're up against. I don't want you getting hurt."

Jesse arched her eyebrow and rested her hand on her hip. "I'm going to get hurt at full power, but it's okay for you to go after Cold when you have a cold? I think you're doing the thing again."

"What thing?" Barry asked defensively, sneezing into the bend of his elbow before he edged past Jesse to grab his costume.

"That thing where you're worried about me for no reason." Jesse turned and followed him into the cortex. "I thought we'd gotten past this already."

"Much as I agree something has to be done," Cisco said, "we've wasted a lot of time. We could just, you know, leave him alone—"

"He's a thief!" Jesse protested. "I'm not letting him intimidate me just because I haven't faced him before. I mean, he's named Captain Cold. How dangerous is he?"

Caitlin and Cisco shared an alarmed look. "Maybe Barry's right this time," Caitlin entreated.

"You too?" Jesse's mouth turned down in disappointment, and Barry raised a hand to forestall her.

"We'll go together, okay? I just need to get changed, and then you can give me a ride. At least I can help you that way, right?" Barry pulled the suit off the mannequin and went to an empty room. He shivered the moment he pulled his shirt off, his skin clammy and chilled, his breath raspy and labored as he suited up and pulled the cowl over his face. Once he was ready, he went back to the cortex. He raised his arm and coughed wetly into the bend of his elbow. "Okay. Let's go."

Jesse fixed her domino mask, and then Barry's head spun from the speed of her running. He never knew what it felt like to move at super speed without the protection of the Speed Force, and experiencing it now was disconcerting. 

She dropped them off behind a car, crouching down beside Barry and peeking over the hood to get a look at Captain Cold. Then she gasped and plastered herself to the side of the car. "You didn't say it was our Mayor!"

"He's not the Mayor on Earth-1!" Barry looked right and left and then peeked over the hood of the car, trying to figure out Snart's location, and then ducked back down, plastering himself to the side of the car. "Let me handle this." He sucked in a deep breath and stood, walking around the front of the car and waiting for the moment Snart turned around and saw him. "Snart. Didn't think I'd see you out robbing banks again so soon."

Snart's grin was immediate, barely there and gone again before it faded into a smirk. "You know how it is, kid. Sometimes you have to jump back on the wagon and play it cool."

Barry rolled his eyes. "You always have the worst jokes."

"And you"—Snart pointed his cold gun at Barry—"have a sidekick."

"You know how it is." Barry shrugged his shoulders. "New speedsters have to start somewhere, right?"

Len clicked his tongue in disappointment. "And me without a train to derail."

Jesse shot a look at Barry, waiting for a cue, maybe, but Barry didn't take his eyes off of Snart. He was always hard to anticipate. "We do have a deal."

"Well!" Jesse sped out from hiding, coming to a stop behind Snart. "I don't have a deal with you. I'm going to stop your robbery, or…" She trailed off, confused by Snart's complete lack of regard. "Um. What are you doing?"

"Heist is already done, kids," Snart said, a fierce grin slashing across his face. "I just wanted to play with Scarlet here, make sure he still remembered my name." He shrugged and swung his cold gun toward Jesse. "It's a good time to make introductions. I'm Cold. You look nervous. Think you should chill out."

"Jesse, move!" Barry called out when Snart activated his cold gun. 

He didn't aim at Jesse. He iced the street in front of her and cut off her momentum, sending her sliding against another car. Then he shook his head and shot the gun again, freezing Jesse's ankles to the pavement. 

"Speedsters. All the same." Snart turned back to Barry, as if surprised Barry was in the same spot.

It had all been easier when they were just talking.

"Snart—" Barry took a step forward, but then the damned tickle in his chest happened, and he flailed his hand in front of him. "Crap, hold on, I gotta. Time out—" Barry half-turned and started coughing, deep, painful coughs that rattled up from somewhere deep in his chest. He managed a raspy gasp for air, but it just set him off again, his head feeling thick and tight from lack of oxygen.

When he finally managed to breathe and wipe his eyes clear, Snart wasn't smiling anymore, the cold gun tilted upward in his elegant fingers. "You're sick." Snart stalked toward Barry, frowning when Barry scrambled away at normal speed, tripping over his feet and clinging to the car beside him so he didn't fall down.

"Dude, you guys get out of there, now," Cisco said through the comms. "This was a bad idea. Jesse, I'm activating the therma-threading in your boots. You'll be out in a second. Barry, try to keep Cold distracted for one more minute."

Snart cocked his head to the side. "You don't have your powers." Barry opened his mouth, but he didn't really have a good response, so he just sniffled miserably, unwilling to rub snot on his suit. "I was gonna shoot you, Scarlet. It would've killed you."

"Thanks for that, by the way," Barry said. "For the not shooting and killing me thing."

Snart shook his head. "Your little friends at STAR Labs should've known better than to let you out." He tilted his head in Jesse's direction and shot her again, just when the therma-threading had melted away the last of the previous blast. He looked back at Barry.

Barry shivered, the suit sticking to his clammy skin, and he started coughing again. Snart sighed, shrugging out of his parka. Barry followed the line of Snart's arms in his thermal shirt, the broad expanse of his shoulders, and then found himself enveloped in Snart's fur-lined parka. "Wha…?"

"I could take it back," Snart said flatly, and that made Barry clutch the parka closer defensively. It was warm and fluffy and he could smell something pepperminty, as much as his stuffy nose would let him smell anything.

"And you." Snart walked over to Jesse and crouched next to her, prodding her with his gun. "It's time for little girls to go home." He stepped away and flipped a switch on the side of the cold gun. Jesse gasped, her breath steaming in the sudden chill.

"S-so c-cold," Jesse shivered, her shoulders drawing up from the cold. The therma-threading on the costume finished melting the ice from her suit, and she scooted back on her butt, trying to escape the cold air. Ice crystals formed at the ends of her hair, her lips going blue, and she whimpered, tears squeezing out of her tightly closed eyes and freezing on her cheeks.

"Wait, what are you—" Barry jolted forward, only to run into Snart's arm holding him back like Snart was some sort of soccer mom.

"That's my new cold field," Snart said, and he looked at Barry, his mouth pulling down in unhappiness. "You ruined all my plans, kid."

"You can't blame me for—" Barry paused to sneeze six times in succession, and then the world spun for a second when Snart swept Barry's legs out from under him. Barry closed his eyes against the dizziness, and when the vertigo stopped, he realized that Snart had pulled Barry up and over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "Snart, put me down, this is so embarrassing—"

"Ah." Snart shook his head when Jesse tried to speed close. Jesse stumbled to a stop, still shivering violently and wrapped her arms around herself. "Keep your cool. The cold field'll fade in five minutes or so." He turned and started to walk away, pausing to readjust Barry on his shoulders before he turned back. "Oh, I'm kidnapping your mentor."

Barry flailed unhappily, but between the congestion in his chest and his fever, he was embarrassingly weak, Snart's arms keeping him pinned tight in place. "Weren't Cisco and Caitlin enough?"

"Figured I'd complete the set." Snart walked away from Jesse, and Barry curled around his shoulders, stuffing his face in the parka hood just because it was easier to hide his embarrassment.

"Don't worry, bro," Cisco said in Barry's ear. "I'll activate the tracker on the suit. Jesse will go get you."

"Wish you'd hurry," Barry muttered.

"Say hello to Cisco for me," Snart said, and Barry groaned unhappily.

"Snart, seriously, this is embarrassing and my powers are only _temporarily_ gone—"

"When you're strong enough to leave, I won't stop you." Barry heard the sound of a car door opening, and he vainly tried to toss his head back to get the parka hood out of his line of sight. Snart deposited him none too gently in the passenger seat of his vehicle. "Seatbelt."

Barry pushed the hood off his head and obediently fastened his seatbelt as Snart climbed into the driver's seat. "And in the meantime?"

Snart pulled off his goggles and cut a narrow look in Barry's direction—His eyes were very blue, warm. Maybe even friendly. Or maybe Barry was sicker than he thought. "I'm taking you off the street. Fighting in this condition's just going to get you killed."

Barry was sure he had some good arguments—that if Snart wanted him safe, he could just take Barry to Joe's, that his friends were going to find him in five minutes anyway, that Snart had a bad habit of doing a good deed and then balancing it by being nasty—but he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the cool glass of the window and fell asleep instead.

~*~

Barry woke up to Snart unbuckling his seatbelt and stifled a yawn, holding out a hand in protest when Snart moved to pick him up again. "I can walk." Snart stepped back, something a little mocking in his expression, and Barry scowled, hauling himself out of the comfortable passenger seat. "Why're you driving a minivan, anyway?" Barry stood on trembling legs, but he made it under his own power, and he shot a smugly triumphant look over at Snart.

"Most things don't require a flashy motorcycle," Snart said, leading Barry to the door of the first floor apartment in front of them. 

"My friends are going to come get me." Barry stopped in the entrance and peered into the dark apartment before Snart snorted and reached past Barry to flip on the light.

"I had Piper whip me up a thing." Snart prodded Barry until Barry took another step inside, and then he closed and locked the door behind him. "The tracker in your suit is being diverted by a proxy. Cisco will still find you but not fast enough for me to worry."

Barry coughed miserably, sneezed, and then slumped down onto Snart's sofa. Snart tugged off Barry's cowl, his fingers wonderfully cool as he brushed them over Barry's forehead, up and into Barry's hair. "You're burning up, kid."

"Haven't been sick in years," Barry complained. "Hate it."

Snart helped Barry out of the parka, despite Barry's unhappy whine, and then he vanished further into the apartment for a couple of minutes. Barry started to drift again, sliding onto his side and resting his head on the arm of the couch. 

"Leave you alone for a minute and this happens." 

Barry jerked awake at the sound of Snart's voice. "I'm not asleep!"

Snart stared down at Barry and simply shook his head. He gave Barry a plastic cap of something green and then tossed some folded clothes down on the sofa next to Barry "Nyquil. After you drink that, bathroom's down the hall. Get changed."

Barry glowered. "Are you always this bossy?"

Snart smirked. "Yes." He waited until Barry downed the medicine and then grabbed hold of Barry's forearm, hauling him up before he gave Barry a little push to point him in the right direction. 

Barry wandered to the bathroom and shut the door, trailing his fingers over the knob. The bathroom was tiny but clean—there were cracks in the sink, the tile on the floor gray with age. Barry leaned against the door and unzipped his suit with fingers that felt heavy and unconnected. He pulled on the pajama pants and cinched the drawstring tight before he smoothed his hands down his thighs. It was strange, wearing Snart's clothes, being let into Snart's space. He shook out the t-shirt and pulled it over his head.

He toyed with the idea of bending over to grab the Flash suit but decided at the last minute that it was too much effort. So he pushed away from the door and let himself back into the hall again. He knew that he should go back to the living room, where Snart was waiting, but unfettered access to one of Snart's safehouses was too rare an opportunity to pass up. There were no pictures on the walls of the hallway, no mirrors, and Barry wandered away from the lights of the front room, venturing deeper into the apartment and finding an empty linen closet. At the end of the hall was a door that drew Barry's attention, and he listed to the side, thumping hard against the wall and sliding as he moved forward.

"Having fun?"

Barry jumped, whirling around at Snart's voice, his vision swimming pleasantly with the movement. Snart stood there, arms folded over his chest, his black clothes making him almost invisible in the shadowed hall. "Yeah. Don't ever get to wander your safe houses."

"There's reasons for that, Barry." Snart's eyes flickered up and down. 

Barry shivered involuntarily under the weight of Snart's gaze. He coughed again, the congestion barely soothed by the medicine, and took a step closer to Snart. He reached out, and Snart tensed slightly when Barry curled his fingers over Snart's ribs, rubbing the fabric of Snart's shirt between his fingers. They'd been this close when Barry had shoved him against Joe's mantle at Christmas. He was solid and so, so warm.

"Did you miss me?" Barry asked, and had to turn his head to sneeze against his shoulder. "While you were gone?"

"No."

Barry laughed and reluctantly let his hands fall away from Snart's sides. "Liar."

Snart watched Barry for a second with dark, hooded eyes and then pushed Barry back a step before he slid a cool hand up to Barry's nape and squeezed, turning him toward the living room again. "And you're sick. Enough arguing. Back to the couch you go."

"I want a pillow," Barry said childishly, and Snart snorted in response. "I'm serious."

"Quit complaining and tell me what happened." Snart led Barry back to the couch, which had a pillow and a blanket ready for him to use. Barry wasn't surprised.

"Meta," Barry said, desperately wanting to lay down now that he'd seen the couch. "Energy absorbing powers. Just drained my battery. I'll be good as new tomorrow." He flopped face first onto the couch cushion, groaning when he realized how unsteady the medicine had made him.

Snart's fingers were in his hair again. "You're going to get yourself killed one of these days." 

Barry hummed, sneezed one more time, and fell asleep.

~*~

"Barry, I'm here to—" 

Barry jolted awake from the sound of Jesse's voice, and he flailed upright on the couch, falling off the cushions and righting himself at his normal speed. 

"—rescue you?" Jesse frowned at Barry, taking in the comfortable clothing and the blanket and the pillow on the sofa. "Are you kidding me?" She raised her hand up to her ear. "You were right, Cisco. I found Barry."

Barry flashed through the small apartment, his head clear, his speed easily accessible once more. He was starving. Snart was nowhere to be found, and something like disappointment coiled in his stomach. He sighed, mostly to himself, a high whirr of sound, and glanced into the bathroom for his costume. It was folded neatly and set on the bathroom counter, the lightning bolt insignia resting carefully on the top. Barry ducked his head and smiled, unable to stop himself.

He sped into his suit, folding the clothes he'd worn and tucking them under his arm before he flashed out and folded the blanket on the couch, too. "He's already gone, I guess."

Jesse laughed and shook her head. "Can you sound anymore disappointed? If I'd known you had a thing, I would've—"

"I don't have a thing." Barry crossed his arms over his chest. "Cold and I don't have a thing."

Jesse looked around the room and cocked an eyebrow. "Right."

"I'm going back to the lab." 

Barry ran, his heartbeat thrumming loudly in his ears as he raced down the street. A thing for Snart. They were friends was all—antagonistic, sometimes violent friends. And so what if Snart had been gentle and a little funny and warm and—

Barry skidded to a stop just outside STAR Labs. Crap. He _did_ have a thing for Snart. 

Jesse's lightning trail passed him but then looped around and returned. "I saw you stop. Are you okay?" She put her hand on Barry's shoulder, and when Barry nodded, she smirked. "You just realized I was right, didn't you?"

"Shut up," Barry complained, and they continued on to the cortex, where everyone but Joe was waiting.

"You scared the crap out of us, dude," Cisco said. 

Iris pushed out of her chair and pulled Barry into a tight hug—in the next second, she pulled away and shoved his shoulder. "You say I'm impulsive, and then you run out to fight Snart without your powers. What were you thinking?"

Barry shrugged, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. "Honestly, I was thinking that Cold would shoot Jesse while I was out of commission."

"Yeah, well, he shot me while you were _in_ commission, so thanks for that." Jesse crossed her arms over her chest and leaned on the console closest to Wally. "He was fast asleep on the couch when I found him, just so you know." She looked over at Caitlin and Cisco. "Is that the way people kidnap each other on this Earth?"

Caitlin shrugged. "When Cold kidnapped me, I was tied to a chair with a bomb underneath it and threatened by Heat Wave."

Cisco glanced at Barry and then down at his computer. "When Cold kidnapped me, he almost froze my brother's fingers off to get Barry's name."

Barry shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know what to say, guys. He gave me medicine and told me to sleep my cold off."

"One of these things is not like the others," Cisco muttered.

"We all know that Snart's always been a little…soft, where Barry's concerned," Iris said.

"I didn't know that," Wally said pointedly. "I didn't even know about him until last night."

"He's been away. Can we stop talking about this? Like, any time?" Barry looked at the time then flashed out of his suit and into his change of clothes. "I'm going to get something to eat, and then I'm going to work, just—I don't know, work on finding that other meta or something." 

He sped away before anyone could say anything else, and he was almost to the CCPD before he realized he was still carrying the clothes Snart had given him.

~*~


End file.
